Life of a Turret
by VampiraFangstein
Summary: Turrets are an important part of Portal's story but we only see part of their life. From creation to the turret redemption line the life of a turret.


As requested by GreatZero

The lasers already cutting the new metal panels. It was time again for new turrets to be created and that was the first part. After that the personality constructs are made, the most important part. Then everything is shipped to the manufacturing wing. That is when all the parts are put together.

All the pieces had been put together exactly as the model showed, a core that was a bit to big in the center, thin strips of metal that worked as a skeleton, and white paneling on the outside. No bullets yet, it isn't safe to give children weapons. She was another young turret numbered 3-159-28.

Her red laser had just shone out when the box came around her to ship her to somewhere new. She was terrified as it flew out. They were all helpless at that point. The only thing they were programmed to know currently was shoot. Later they would all be taught other objectives.

She came to a production line that removed the boxing. Her laser instinctively followed the full-sized turret in front of all of them. "Hello, turrets." She greeted them.

"Hello." They all responded back in a voice that was slightly higher pitch than hers.

"This is group 159 model 3. You will all be kept here and learn strategies and your functions. Before we begin our lessons please bow your lasers for the Animal King." It moved her over as her core turned off. A large turret with animal print came out. All the lasers lowered.

Another group of turrets came up and started playing music. One larger turret, the Queen, was in front of them all singing. The King was also singing in a deep voice. It was a fairly short song. After that the lead turret's core came back on.

"Now on with the lessons." She said. "You are all designed to shoot. Whether you are keeping others out or protecting you will be killing something." She continued to talk about targeting and shooting then went into strategy.

"When you detect motion say one of your scripted lines." She informed.

"Why would we want to give away our position?" One of the turrets almost sang.

"Isn't is obvious? The humans haven't heard another voice in a long time so they will be drawn to our voices." Another turret answered.

"Exactly." The full-sized one said. "You also hide your weapon under the panels so that they don't see them. They are scared, as they should be, of the guns." She had them practice with bringing their unloaded weapon in and out.

"Very good." GLaDOS' voice came in. They were sucked through a tube into a new room that would give them their larger frames.

The little turret was terrified as the machine came down around her and took everything except her core. Then it built up a new, larger frame around her, filled with bullets. White paneling came around that. She looked around and saw other models being built. Camouflage models were on the right and red were on the left.

After that 3-159-28 was sent to a line that tested her firing. A dummy was in front of her. She began firing. As she moved her laser stayed on it and she continued shooting until it was out of range. She could hear from the next room a voice that wasn't like anything she had heard. It made her wonder what other things existed in the world besides turrets.

The next area she came to was testing to make sure all their parts were together and their voices worked. "Hello." A turret behind glass said.

"Response?" A deep male voice asked.

"I'm different." The turret in front of her said. The system didn't seem to know what to do. It sent her on through. The line went up to 3-159-28.

"Hello." The turret said again.

"Response?" She was terrified. If she said the wrong thing she would be sent into the incinerator behind her. It was like a test in school.

"Hello." She was relieved as the line moved on. The same voice she had heard before was behind her.

"Don't have any bullets. Are you going to give me bullets?" The voice said. "Nooooo! You messed with the wrong turret." She heard clickclickclick and then a turret saying "Hello." Her laser went to the noise. Eventually a plain, white turret came up beside her.

She looked forward into the room. It contained multiple pipes that lead to many parts on the facility. "These tubes will lead you to a test chamber where you will shoot anything that moves." One of GLaDOS' prerecorded messages said. The "different" turret went through a broken tube.

"Error shutting down tube three." The deep voice announced. The tube was sealed shut. Then the line started moving as though nothing had happened. 3-159-28 was a little scared. She didn't want that to happen to her.

"Fact: The odds of that happening again in five minuets is 3.47%." A core on the management rail said as though he had read her thoughts. The line moved her onto the seventh tube.

She ended up in a test chamber full of turrets. White walls perfect for portals stood all around them. Orange and blue gel fell from nearby tubes splattering the mixing colors on the floor. Hard light bridges lined the walls and gave off an almost silent hum.

They all sat there and waited. The elevator never opened but they all sat there ready for the second someone would step through. At one point there was an explosion but they all ignored it and waited. The gel stopped running eventually and plants overtook the walls. Even the hard light bridges started growing moss.

One by one each of the turrets said their final "Goodnight," and deactivated. 3-159-28 was the only one that didn't shut off. The plants seemed to stray from her. Sometimes she would hear the voice of one of the cores. She tried to talk to them but her voice generator had fallen apart a long time ago.

After so long the same deep voice that had asked for her response said, "Power up initiated." Shortly after that the facility started to come back together. The plants were pushed off and the turrets that had sat with her for years were sent to the turret redemption line. A robotic arm came in and scooped her up. It took off her old, decaying frame and replaced it along with some other broken parts.

It took her to the room with the pipes. Tube three was back online. That was what she went through. The new room was much lonelier. Only one young turret was with her.

She waited patiently. It didn't take long for a test subject to show up.

"Could you come over here?" She asked. It was one of her many scripted lines to say when the target came into sight.

Both of the turrets started shooting nonstop. 3-159-28 hit the test subject a few times causing blood to fly. The test subject hid behind a cube and made it over to her. She knocked 3-159-28 over. She couldn't control it as she started spraying bullets all over. The panels came over her weapon. The young turret was left alive. After the subject left the test a mechanical arm came and picked up her body.

It took out the remaining bullets and some of the paneling. The remaining parts were thrown on the turret redemption line. Her core no longer glowed. It was now broken from falling over but that is how a turret's life goes.

**I really hope I did a good job writing this. It was a little difficult at parts. I tried to have it seem almost like a human life. The core is too big in the small frame like how baby's eyes seem too big for their body. Being numbered is the equivalent of being named. A box is like a blanket. Stuff like that. **


End file.
